That Man and Mystery
by PhantomAngel24601
Summary: This is a modern day story. Christine is an ordinary dancer at an opera house in New York and Erik the elusive manager. He is seen as an unapproachable, temperamental artist until a certain dancer stumbles into his office. E/C as usual. I'm bad at summaries but please READ AND REVIEW.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I'm going to try this again. I was told that my writing style was too rushed so I've tried to plan this fic better. I just want to get the first chapter out and see the response I get before I continue. For now this story is a T rating, there might be some developments that may change the rating but I'll try and keep it at T. This is obviously E/C **

**Summary: This is a modern day story. Christine is an ordinary dancer at an opera house in New York and Erik the elusive manager. He is seen as an unapproachable, temperamental artist until a certain dancer stumbles into his office. E/C as usual. I'm bad at summaries but please READ AND REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters you recognise.**

CHAPTER 1:  
The New York Opera House company just started their new production. The entire company was busy preparing. The dancers had started rehearsing, Christine being the new dancer in the company had to practice extra hard. The music of the orchestra filled the auditorium. The lead diva, Carlotta, had started her antics as she usually does before any new production.

"Why am I forced to work with these...these amateurs?!" She shrieked glancing at the group of young dancers. The tenor, Piangi, that acted alongside Carlotta tried to calm her down. "And where is that manager, I need to speak to him about this new dancer? She's useless." Christine looked down in shame at Carlotta's comment. Madame Giry, the dancing instructor, stepped forward, "If you have a problem with my dancers you should speak to me and not waste the manager's time. Carlotta rolled her eyes, "Well I'm telling you n-" At this moment the manager walked in. Silence filled the auditorium. Everyone was shocked to see him as he hadn't come to a rehearsal for weeks.

"Is there a problem here?" No one besides Madame Giry had the courage to step forward. "Madame Carlotta has a problem with one of the new dancers." Christine felt her heart start to race. She was glad that no one turned to look at her. Mr Destler, the manager remained cold and upright, "well if she's new she can't be that valuable. Send her to my office so I can formally dismiss her." Mr Destler left the auditorium without another word to any one. Everyone stared after him in shock, Christine paled. Mr Reyer, the conductor, interrupted the silence. "How about a 30 minute break?"he suggested, nodding at Madame Giry. She nodded her head, "Yes, I believe that would be best." The members of the company scrambled off the stage, grateful for the break.

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Many of the cast members sat in groups in the large empty foyer of the opera house, chatting or playing QuizUp on their phones. Christine opted to sit by herself with her mp3 player and earphones in her ears. She tried desperately to ignore all the stares. Even though she was near tears she was determined to change the manager's mind. After a few minutes a tall blonde walked up to her. "Hi I'm Meg Giry." She held out her hand to Christine. Christine hesitantly took it, recognising her as one of the best dancers in the company. "Madame Giry would like to see you." Oh right. Of course she wasn't there to get to know Christine. Christine nodded and quickly got up, following Meg to Madame Giry's office.

Outside Madame Giry's office, there were a group of dancers sitting on the floor. Christine ignored their whispers. Christine stared at the door in fear. "Well go on, knock." Meg urged. Before softly knocking on the door Christine heard one of the dancers saying, "Does she even know how to knock?" This caused the others to burst into a fit of giggles. Christine entered Madame Giry's office, completely ignoring the group of dancers giggling behind her.

"Miss Daae, thank you for coming to see me" Madame Giry motioned for Christine to sit. "Are you going to fire me?" Christine could feel the tears welling in her eyes. "No, Miss Daae, I am not allowed to do that. Mr Destler has to do that. I just wanted to warn you about him. He is a good man but if you rub him up the wrong way he can be quite...well you can imagine from this morning." "Do I have to go now?" Christine asked timidly. Madame Giry nodded and explained to her how to get to Mr Destler's office.

After about 10 minutes of pacing in the corridor Christine finally worked up the courage to knock on Mr Destler's door. She nearly passed out from fear when she heard his threatening voice call for her to enter.

**A/N: so please review. I would really appreciate your feedback, questions or suggestions. Thanks for reading and yeah please review, follow and favourite :)**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I know the last chapter was quite short, this one will be a bit longer. Thank you so much for your reviews. I have taken in everything you all said and will remember it while I am writing the rest of the story. About updating: I need to start studying for exams but I will update a bit during studying and exams and the updates will become more regularly after exams. Anyway, hope you all like the new chapter :)

CHAPTER 2:  
Erik sat alone at his desk in his office, his laptop open in front of him. He had classical music playing on his iPod through the Bluetooth speakers but turned it off when he heard a knock on his door. Erik hated being disturbed. Before doing anything he made sure his skin coloured mask was in tact.

"Enter" the annoyance in his voice could be heard. Erik stood up from his desk when this girl stumbled into his office, landing on her hands and knees. Erik just stood and stared at her, not even bothering to help her up. Eventually the girl got up, her face flushed from embarassment. "I'm Christine Daae..."her voice was timid. Christine noticed that Mr Destler always appeared cold, "I do not care. Why are you here?" Erik's voice was demanding. Christine stepped back in shock, not expecting that rudenesss.

"I was sent by Madame Giry" Christine's voice was barely a whisper. "Of course, the dancer?" Erik questioned, "here's your letter of dismissal and your payment for the month." Christine felt tears stain her cheeks, "Please, Mr Destler, don't do this. I need this job." Erik shoved the envelope into her hand, "tell someone who cares and get out of my office. Now!" Christine ran out of his office, her tears falling freely. She ran till she couldn't see the opera house and was surrounded by strangers in the bustling streets of New York.

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Erik sat alone in his office with a strange feeling in his chest. Guilt. No, it couldn't be guilt. Erik chose to ignore this and forget about that girl, she was just one of those poor country girls that was desperate for a job. He tried to reassure himself by telling himself that she was probably talentless anyway.

Erik sat for a few minutes staring out the tall windows, that displayed the entire city, until he was knocked out of his reverie by his office door being flung open. Erik rolled his eyes and inwardly groaned when he saw Carlotta.

"Did you fire that stupid girl?" Carlotta questioned. Erik simply nodded and kept his face turned away from Carlotta's view. This woman annoyed him so much. "Ugh, are you just going to stand there?" Carlotta walked up to Erik. "Yes, Madame, I am just going to stand here and next time you come into my office, be sure to knock" Erik sincerely hoped there would be no next time. Carlotta stomped her foot and marched out of his office. If Erik could have fired that woman he would have, but that idiot of a patron was stopping him. Damn that patron! Erik didn't know who he hated more, Carlotta or the patron, Raoul de Changy.

Erik stopped his rant when he heard another knock at his door. Why were so many people disturbing him today? Erik's expression softened, just a little bit, when he saw Madame Giry. "What did you say to the girl?" Madame Giry questioned sternly. She was the only person Erik trusted, she was like family. "I fired her, like I was supposed to. Why do you ask?" Erik decided not to mention how rude he was to the girl. "Erik, she ran out of your office in tears..." Erik shifted awkwardly in his chair, he had not realised. There was that guilty feeling again, "Oh, I did not realise." Madame Giry knew Erik, she knew that he was probably rude to the girl. "Aplogise to her, if you ever see her again" with that Madame Giry left his office. Erik pondered what she had said for a few minutes but chose to ignore what he felt towards the girl, telling himself that he would never see her again.

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Christine sat alone at a table in the corner at Starbucks. She had a cappucino in front of her but couldn't bring herself to drink it. She knew that Mr Destler was a recluse, who never spoke to anyone but that didn't give her the right to be mean to her. There was something strange about that man...about hos appearance...and he looked lonely. Christine wondered if he had anyone that even cared about him. No, Christine decided that she didn't care as he was the reason she now had no income. Her thoughts about the mysterious manager of the opera house were interrupted when she saw a tall, blonde young man enter Starbucks. Their eyes met and Christine flushed a deep shade of red. He ordered a coffee before going up to Christine.

"Hi, I'm Raoul de Changy" he offered his hand. Christine shook it, smiling "Christine Daae". For a few moments Christine just stared into his deep blue eyes. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach. "Well, Christine, I have to go run an errand. You could walk with me if you'd like?" Christine nodded and slowly got up. Wait, maybe she shouldn't just follow a random stranger. Oh, what the hell, she had nothing better to do this and this Raoul guy is hot. Together, they walked out of Starbucks and into the streets of New York.

"So, Christine, tell me about yourself. What do you do for living?" "I was a dancer" Christine sighed. "Was? What happened?" Raoul questioned. "I was fired..." Christine ignored the thoughts of Mr Destler that entered her mind. Raoul gasped and placed his arm around her shoulder "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up!" Christine looked up from the floor and at Raoul, "Don't worry, I found a job at a coff-" Christine turned her head and realised they were standing outside the New York Opera House. "Why do you need to run an errand here?" Christine noticed from the corner of her that Carlotta had come through the doors and was walking towards. "I'm a patron here. Is that a problem?" Raoul questioned. Christine just stared at him blankly.

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Erik stood at his window, gazing down at the bustling streets beneath him. He was content to just stand and watch but something caught his eye. Raoul de Changy and he was stranding with that girl. He had his arm draped around her. Erik felt the sudden need to protect this girl from his patron. Erik knew that Raoul was just going to use. Christine was too sweet of a girl for Erik to allow that happen, he had to stop Raoul. Frustrated, he banged his hand on the wall, the nearest thing to him. Why was he suddenly feeling these emotions? Why did he care about this girl?

A/N: So I know there has to be some R/C but don't worry I hate Raoul so it won't last long as this story is essentially and E/C fic. PLEASE REVIEW, FOLLOW&FAVOURITE :)


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey everyone, thanks for reading and reviewing. Hope you all like the next chapter :)**

CHAPTER 3:

Raoul raised an eyebrow, realising that Christine might have been fired from the opera house, "Christine, what's wrong with the opera house?" Christine just shook her head, "Go run your errand, I'll just...I'll just wait here." Raoul nodded and with a smile at Christine, he ran towards the doors, stopping when he reached Carlotta. Christine stared after Raoul. If he was a patron here, it probably meant that he's family was rich. Christine didn't know if she wanted to get close to a guy like Raoul. Maybe she was just jumping to conclusions and judging too quickly, maybe he wasn't like that. She decided that she would like to get to know him. If he even wanted that. Why would he choose her? Girls probably flocked around him. Christine thought that she wasn't exactly that beautiful and that she was just an inexperienced nineteen year old...well she was almost twenty. But still, no man would want her...

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"What are you doing with that girl?" Carlotta questioned angrily. Raoul knew this was coming, Carlotta and him were in a fake 'relationship', even though Carlotta thought it was real. Raoul only slept with Carlotta to keep her happy because without her the opera would fail, he was getting really bored with her. Now, he had his eyes set on Christine, he would use her to satisfy his needs. "I was just talking to the girl." Raoul reassured Carlotta, "Go back inside babe, I'll come and find you later." Raoul stepped back before Carlotta could kiss him, he hoped Christine hadn't seen that attempted kiss. Carlotta went back inside with a pout and Raoul rushed back to Christine.

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Christine smiled at Raoul as he rushed back to her. She hadn't heard or watched what Raoul or Carlotta had said to each other. She figured that as the patron Raoul had to interact with members of the company and Carlotta was the lead diva after all. "I'm sorry about that Christine, I just had to clear something up with the lead diva." Raoul placed his hand around her, "Shall we continue our walk?" Christine nodded, flinching slightly when Raoul put his arm around her, "Could you actually just walk me to the café down the street, I'm starting work there?" Raoul happily obliged and walked with her. As they walked away from the front of the magnificent opera house Christine could have sworn that she saw a shadow standing by the top window. She really needed to stop imagining things.

"I know I shouldn't bring this up but...who fired you?" Raoul questioned as the neared the café where Christine was going to work. "Uh...it was Mr Destler" Christine sincerely hoped that Raoul was not going to ask him about, being a patron. However, Raoul just nodded and continued their walk in silence. Raoul knew that it wasn't worth it to say anything to Erik because that man had one hell of a temper. Raoul was going to have to think of another way to impress Christine and get her into his bed, she seemed easy and desperate enough. He smirked slightly, no one would stop him from getting what he wanted. Besides, he always got what he wanted.

Christine stopped outside the café and glanced at Raoul, wondering what he was thinking about. "Is there something on your mind Raoul?" Christine arched an eyebrow. "No, not at all. I was just wondering if you're free tonight so we can go out to dinner. " Raoul gave her a dazzling smile, with pearly white teeth. How could she possibly say no? Christine smiled slightly, a bit hesitant to agree but eventually she agreed, "I'd like that..." Raoul grinned, "Great, I'll come back here later to get you." Christine smiled and went into the café. Raoul turned and went back down the street, towards the opera house.

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Raoul strolled into the auditorium looking like he owned the place. Rehearsals had started again. What Raoul did not expect to see was Erik Destler sitting in the seats watching the rehearsal. This man had never been interested enough to watch a single rehearsal. Raoul sat down next to Erik, "Hey, how's it going?" Erik rolled his eyes, "Go sit somewhere else..." Raoul sighed and went to sit a few rows away from Erik. As he sat watching the rehearsal, he winked at Carlotta, he knew he would be meeting her in her dressing room later. Raoul turned around to look at Erik. He was gone. It was so typical for him to do other things while the entire company was in the auditorium rehearsing.

Raoul sat through the entire rehearsal and got up just before the end to go to Carlotta's dressing room. He put his feet up on her dressing table and paged through the that had been left on it. A few minutes later Carlotta came in, "Hello, love." Raoul ignored what she called him and got up to lock the door. "Let's make this quick" Raoul literally tore the buttons of her dress.

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Raoul emerged from Carlotta's dressing room about an hour later and called for his driver to come fetch him and take him home. He needed to clean up before he saw Christine. After about forty-five minutes he was back in the car and nearly outside the café Christine worked at. He got out of the car when Christine came out at the end of her shift. He leaned forward to place a kiss on her cheek but she flinched away. Raoul smiled, ignoring the rejection her just received. It just mean that he would be more satisfied when he finally had her. "Let's go," Raoul said with a grin. Christine smiled nervously as Raoul ushered her into the car.

Raoul and Christine were sitting in a fancy restaurant. Christine gazed around, she didn't like this place very much. Everyone was staring at her like she didn't belong there, she felt like she didn't belong her. Raoul noticed the change, "Christine, are you okay? You look a bit pale." Christine shook her head, "I'm fine..l-let's just order" she forced the most convincing smile she could.

**A/N: Thanks for being patient, I know it's taking me a bit long to update. Oh and in case you didn't realise Raoul is a villain and as a preview for the next chapter(because I took so long with this one) I will tell you that E/C will meet again *rubs hands together* Please continue to read, review, follow and favourite. I really appreciate all your feedback :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks to those who are reading and reviewing. I appreciate it. I do hope that more people join :) Sorry this took so long. I've just finished my exams so don't worry I did not abandon this story. Enjoy the chapter and please review so that I know that people are still interested :)**

**CHAPTER 4:**

Since that date with Raoul in the fancy restaurant, they had only gone on one other public date. Christine wasn't sure but it felt like Raoul didn't want to be seen with her. She decided that she wasn't going to confront him about it. They had at least had a few nice private dates. Although nothing serious happened yet, Christine new that she liked Raoul, he was a nice guy. Christine was walking from her apartment to the café. Raoul had helped her pay for the apartment as she couldn't afford it with her salary at the moment. She was hoping to get a job at another theatre, maybe singing this time and promised to pay Raoul back as soon as she could.

It was seven in the morning an Christine was standing at the counter ready to serve the customers. The café was relatively busy in the morning as people would come for a quick coffee before work. Christine was looking down at her phone, something she wasn't meant to be doing, but Raoul had sent her a message about a date that night. A man cleared his throat but Christine didn't even realise, she was too busy replying to Raoul, happy that her manager was at the back so that she could quickly check her phone.

"Excuse me, can I order something?" Christine recognised that voice. She looked up and her eyes locked with two piercing green eyes.

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Raoul sat in his office, his laptop open in front of him. Things were taking a bit longer than he expected with Christine but he was still as determined as ever to get what he wanted. He was busy planning their date. He didn't want to take her somewhere public so he opted to have his chef cook dinner and invite Christine over to his house. On all their previous dates, they had mostly gone to her place, well the place he paid for. Inviting her to his home meant that it would end up being easier for him to achieve his 'goal'. Raoul was glad that Christine wasn't friends with anyone from the Opera House or she might have heard about his reputation. However, Raoul knew for a fact that Christine was completely unaware of his intentions. Smirking, he got up from his desk to go and make arrangements for his date with Christine.

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"Mr Destler...I...uhm" Christine couldn't even find the words to say. She had never noticed how mesmerizing his eyes were before. Why was she staring at him? "Of course...what would you liked to order?" Christine looked anywhere but at him. "A cappuccino, please." "Sit down or takeaway" Christine's hands were literally shaking. Erik smirked, "I think I'll sit down..." He went to sit down at a table in the corner, where the light was relatively dim, and watched as Christine prepared his coffee. She was more beautiful than he remembered, or maybe he just didn't notice her beauty the day when she fell into his office. Thinking about that day, he remembered what Madame Giry had said. His thoughts were interrupted when Christine placed the coffee on the table. She was about to turn and walk back to the counter, "Miss Daae, wait". Christine looked at him "Mr Destler, please call me Christine, you are no longer my boss..." Erik felt a pang of guilt when she mentioned that, "Well then, Christine, I just wanted to apologise for my abrupt behaviour on the day I...on the day you left the Opera House." Christine shrugged in response, "It's fine." "No, it's not. I feel the need to make it up to you." Erik explained. "That is really not necessary, Mr Destler." Erik sighed, "Alright, if you say so."Christine smiled warmly and went back to the counter, Erik drank his cappuccino, still watching Christine. She seemed like a kind person, at least it looked like that by the way she interacted with customers. This made him feel even worse. Erik contemplated warning her but he didn't think she would take it well seeing that he was her jerk of an ex boss that fired her. However, he still felt obliged to tell her.

Christine returned to his table, bringing the bill with her. He had to tell her it was now or never. "Mi-...uh Christine?" Erik knew this wasn't going to end well. "Yes, Mr Destler?" Christine spoke softly. "I need to warn you" Erik looked quite serious and Christine wondered what was wrong. She raised her eyebrow but said nothing. "It's about Raoul. I know you're seeing him and I know what he's like, I'm just telling you to be careful that he doesn't hurt you." Erik looked at her trying to figure out her reaction. She replied blankly, "thank you for your concern but you know nothing about Raoul or me so please stay out of it." She took the bill and walked away. Erik sighed and left the café.

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It was 6pm and Christine was waiting outside the café for Raoul to pick her up. While she stood, she thought about what Mr Destler said to her. For a moment she wondered what he meant but pushed the thoughts from her mind. She liked Raoul and nothing anyone said would change that, especially not Mr Destler. He did fire her and was extremely rude to her so why does he now care enough to warn her to prevent her from getting hurt. She promised herself to not pay attention to what Mr Destler said. Raoul was a great person and would never hurt.

At that moment Raoul pulled up, well he's driver did, she smiled at Raoul and the driver got out to open the door for her. Once she was in the car Raoul moved closer to her and kissed her. Christine kissed him back but pulled away when he tried to deepen the kiss. Raoul smiled at her, "Sorry, I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries..." Raoul grinned to himself because when they got to his house, her boundaries wouldn't matter. Christine looked over at Raoul, "What are we doing tonight?" Raoul grinned at her, "Dinner at my place. How's your new apartment?" Christine sighed softly, "It's your apartment but it's great thanks."

They arrived at Raoul's place, the driver pulled up in front of the door. Raoul got out after Christine and they both walked inside. "Let's go into the living room" Raoul placed his hand on Christine's back. Christine had been here before so she knew where the living room was. They sat down on the leather couch by the window. Christine gazed out at the beautiful gardens. "We'll have dinner in half an hour. Is that okay?" Raoul asked placing his arm around Christine. Christine smiled slightly and nodded. Raoul grinned, it was time. Very slowly he ran his hands up and down Christine's arms. Christine leaned slightly towards his touch. Raoul started placing rough kisses along her neck. Christine ignored the way Raoul was acting, they had intimate moments like this before. Raoul spun Christine around to face him and placed kisses on her collarbone. Christine tried to pull away slowly but Raoul pulled her closer, continuing his trail of kisses. "Raoul...we should stop..." Raoul ignored her and his hands went to the hem of the shirt. "Raoul...no! I don't want to do this..." Christine pushed against Raoul's chest. "Stop resisting me, baby. You know you want it..." Raoul grinned and his hands went under her shirt. Raoul growled, "So...you wanna do this the hard way then." Raoul pushed her down onto the couch and pressed his much larger body against hers. "No! Stop!" Christine screamed. Her screaming was useless. Christine slapped Raoul as hard as she could and when Raoul was momentarily distracted by the sting of the slap, she pushed him off her and ran towards the door. Raoul tried to grab her, scratching her arm with his sharp nails and the edge of his watch in the process. Eventually Christine made it out the door. Raoul was following her, she ran as fast as she could out the front gate. She ran until Raoul stopped pursuing her and called for a cab. Once she was back in the bustling streets of New York she felt safe.

The café was already closed so Christine walked up the road, knowing she couldn't go back to her apartment. Raoul might be there, waiting for her. This was her second bad experience with a man, she should not have trusted Raoul so quickly. Walking past the opera house, she noticed a light in one of the windows. The sun was setting and the street lights were on. Hoping that Meg might be there, she went in. Meg and her had sort of become friends. When Christine got to the office where the light had been shining, she realised it was Mr Destler's office. She was about to turn away when the door opened. She noticed the shock on Erik's face when seeing her, his gaze went to her arm. His expression softened, "Christine, what happened?" Christine noticed that he had his jacket and his keys. He was on his way home. "I'm sorry, I'm interrupting. You were about to leave..." Christine choked back a sob. Erik smiled reassuringly, "I don't live far from here..Come on..." Christine just stared at him, "Mr Destler. You don't have to d-" "Yes, I do."

Together, they walked down to the parking lot. Mr Destler opened the passenger door of his Mercedes-Benz. Christine got in and he closed the door. His car was really luxurious. "You should apply pressure to your arm, I'll clean it up when we get to my place" Erik pulled out of the parking space. Christine took off her jacket and held it against her arm, she had not realised the amount of blood. The entire torn sleeve had blood on it. It was a ten minute drive to the apartment block that Mr Destler lived in. It was one of the nicest in New York. And he lived in the penthouse.

Once they were inside, Christine barely had time to look around before Mr Destler led her to the bathroom. "I'm just going to clean your wound" Erik said looking through the cabinet for a bandage. Christine sat down on the edge of the bath, she felt tears pooling in her eyes. Mr Destler kneeled in front of her. "Are you wearing a vest under your shirt?" Erik really didn't want to do this, he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. She merely nodded."May I?" He asked. Christine nodded again trying to stop her tears. Erik's hands went to her buttons and he slowly started unbuttoning her shirt. Christine immediately flinched. "I'm sorry about this." Erik sighed. Christine shook her head, "It's fine..." her voice was timid. Erik continued unbuttoning her shirt and gently removed it. Immediately he dabbed the cut with anitseptic liquid and cotton wool. He then rolled a bandage around her arm. When he looked up at Christine he noticed that she was still crying. He reached for a tissue and handed it to her. Christine took it and wiped her face, "Thank you, Mr Destler" Erik smiled, "You're welcome...and please, call me Erik"

**A/N: I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. Please review, so I know that there is still interest in this story. I appreciate all feedback x**


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